Habitat: coniferous, and mixed forests,
open tundra, rangeland, and deserts.

Diet in the Wild:entirely vegetarian,
evergreen needles, tree bark, buds, tender twigs, roots, stems, leaves,
flowers, berries, nuts, and other vegetation. Porcupines are also known
to gnaw on bones and antlers from the ground due to their high mineral
content .

Conservation Status: No special status

Location in the Zoo: Texas Wild

Physical Description: Coloration of common porcupines is usually dark brown. The dorsal
region of the porcupine is covered with thick, sharp, barbed quills, which
are distributed among stiff guard hairs and wooly underfur, however there
is variation in the color of a porcupine's hair throughout its geographic
range. Most porcupines weigh 3 to 7 kg. but a large male can weigh up to
18kg. Porcupines have heavy bodies with small heads, small ears, short
legs, and a short thick tail. The animal's feet are heavy with naked soles.

Social Organization::
Solitary, but some may den together in the winter.

Special Adaptations:
The front feet have four toes while the hind feet have five toes. Each
toe has a strong curved claw this is an adaptation to help the porcupine
in his forage for food.
Because the porcupine cannot run fast nor appears very intimidating
in size or appearance another special adaptation of the porcupine is its
quills which are to help the porcupine defend itself from wouldbe predators.
The number of quills on each porcupine may exceed 30,000. Each one of the
modified hairs is tipped with microscopic barbs that cause the quill to
be continually driven into the muscle of predators. The longest quills
are located on the animal's rump; the shortest are found on the cheeks.

Reproductive Behavior:

Females become mature at about 18 months. A very
interesting and detailed courtship takes place involving extreme vocalization,
a very elaborate and somewhat comical dance, and then after the
dance the male showers the female with urine. Females bear single
precocial offspring, or rarely, twins, after a gestation period of 7
months.

The Animal at the Zoo:

The porcupine at the zoo is a new addition to Texas Wild, however many
people are not aware that he is a porcupine because he is not yet labeled.
He is kept in with the ringtails and they seem to be fine at ignoring
eachother. They even bunk close together at times, the porcupine on
the log and the ringtail under the log. I have seen very little movement
from the porcupine because he is nocturnal so he is always asleep during
the daylight hours, in fact I have never seen him in any other place
but on top of the log.